Women,Gender,Sexuality Studies 393R - S-Reading Gender Trouble

This course provides an introduction to Judith Butler's book Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. Gender Trouble is often treated as a singular text that forever changed the history of feminist theorizing. This course does not take that view. We will, however, treat Gender Trouble as an important text that is embedded in long-standing debates within feminist theory -- as well as intervening in debates in psychoanalysis, sexuality studies, political theory, anthropology, and performance studies, to name just a few -- and, in the process, informing feminist, queer, and trans activism. The course provides conceptual building blocks leading up to a reading of Gender Trouble. We will explore terms such as ideology, discourse, reification, interpellation, mimesis, drag, ontology, iteration, citation, the phallus, Oedipus, performativity, and power. Students will gain an understanding of the similarities and differences between and across a variety of authors that are trying to understand the nature of sex/sexuality/gender. Through an active engagement in texts that informed the writing of Gender Trouble, students will be confident to read and discuss Butler's text at the end of course.